Coupled range finder



Jan. 2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 20, 1939 INVENTOR. Oscarllz'ebmamn.

BY m

' ATTORNEY:

Jam. 2, 1940.

0. LIEBMANN COUPLED RANGE FINDER Fi'ld July 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Fig.7

INVENTQR. Oscarl tebmarm.

BY w- ATTORNEY,

1 1....2, 1m -,z,1ss,311

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- COUPLED RANGE FINDER.

Oscar Liebmann, Bergenfield, N. 1., assignor to Q. 0. S.'0orporation.New York, N. Y., a corporation or New York Application July 20, 1939,Serial No. 285,527

-s Claims. 95-44) Myinvention relates to improvements in cou- Iterminated in hub 2| which is fastened to shaft pled range finders forstill cameras of the type 22 and which extends through the wall or thewhere one end of a movable arm is coupled to the camera It) and into therange finder proper which sliding carriage of thecamera and the otherend consists of a base 23 upon which is mounted the through a system oflevers operates the rotatable square tube 24 having the square windows25 and 5 mirror of the range finder, and where the range '25 and theviewing telescope 21- with lens 28. finder has square viewing apertures.In Figure 6 is shown the inside view of base 23.

Animportant object of my invention-is to pro- ,The shaft .22 extendsclear through the base 23 vide an easily adjustable range finder whichmay and is journalled in the walls of the square tube 10 be fitted toany suitable camera. 24. A lever 29 is rigidly mounted upon shaft 22 10A further object of my invention'is to.provide inside base 23. The freeend of lever 29 is ena range finder which is accurate in operation andgaged with the curved side of the right angle lever gives correctsettings even at very short and very 30 which is pivoted upon screw 3|.The curved long distances. nose 32 of lever 30 is in engagement with theslid- I A still further object oi my inventionis to proing cam 33 whichis held against the nose 32 of vide a range finder with an operatinglever of lever 30 by spring 34. A spring35 presses cam 33 fixeddimensions and where the adjustments may against the inner side of base23 where it rides be made, once for all,'. inside the range finder uponthe end of screw 36 and the projection 31. proper, thus preventingunauthorized tampering The lower end of the sliding cam 33 has on one sowith the instrument. side a curved cam face 38 against which is en--20Other objects and advantages of the invention gaged the end of screw 39which is extending will be apparent during the course of thefollowthrough the end of a lever 40. The lever 40 is ing description.fastened to shaft ll and is pressed against the In .the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part sliding cam 33 by spring 42.

I 2% of this specification, and in which like numerals .Referring now toFig. '7, shaft 4| extends 25 are employed to designate like partsthroughout through, and is journalled in, the square tube 2! the same,and carries the turnable mirror 43 which is placed Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a camera with the inside the square tube adjacent to thesquare winrange finder mounted in place, dow 26. A semi-transparentmirror 44 is mount-- Figure 2 is a plan view of the plate attached to edin a fixed position between the square window so the carriage, 25 andthe telescope 21. 'The square tube 24 is Figille3 is Partial elevationalong line. closed at both ends with covers 45 and 48 and has in Fig. l,suitable mounting holes for fastening to base 23. u e 4 is a partialelevation 810118 ne in The operation 01' my invention is based upon 85Fig. 1, the same princ ple as disclosed in Fig. 4 of my 35 Figure 5 isan inside view'oi the closedcamera, go-pending application, Serial No.257,038, filed Figure 6 is section along line 6-6 in Fig. and. Feb. 18,1939. By means of the movable mirror Fi e '7 is a section'along line 1-1in Fi 4. 43 the two pictures reflected upon mirror 44 (Fig; In thedrawings wherein for the purpose of 11- 7) are brought i t c0incidencehi so lustration. is shown a preferred embodiment of sponds to a givendistance, and by coupling the 40 y invention. the e al 0 designates thecase movable mirror to the focusing adjustment the 0f the camera While His he hinged COVE! With camera is automatically focused. In the presentrails l2 on which the usual carriage travels which invention thecoupling means consist of levers l8, carries the lens mount- A plate 13is fastened to I9, 29, 30, ac and the sliding cam 33. One of the t5 h enrr e n h a nn h o part objects of an invention of this type is toprovide a 5 I of the plate projects over on one side'of the carrangefinder which may be adjusted to a variety riage. The p ate I3 s Shown indetail in gu 2 of diiierent cameras. It is, therefore, necessary and hasa hole I! and a notch l5 besides the two to have the coupling meansadjustable inside of ho es 6 a d H w h serves o fasten plate l3 widelimits, and it is desirable, for practical rea- 50 to the carriage.sons, to have the adjustable means inaccessible-to 50 A lever l8 notchedat one end engages in notch prevent tampering. In the present invention,Hi the other end being hinged to lever IS. The therefore,.these objectshave been attained by notched end of lever l8 has a point 20 whichproplacing the adjustable means inside base 23. To

jects through hole I in plate l3 when the camera make possible a widerange of adjustments there as is folded, see Fig. 5. The other end oflever I9 is are two places where such adjustments may be u made. Thescrew 38 may be reached through a hole in the side of base 23 and thisscrew will change the slope of the curved cam face 38 there by makingpossible adjustments for variation in focal lengths. The screw 35 mayalso be reached through a hole in the side of base 23 and serves toadjust the movable mirror to correct position for infinite distance.Levers l9 and 40 and the sliding cam 33 are spring loaded so that whenthe camera is opened lever l8 will automatically stay in engagement withplate l3, and once adjusted, the movable mirror will always be in thecorrect angular relation to the focus of the camera lens.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts mayberesorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, or thescope of the subjoined claims. Having thus described my invention, Iclaim: 1. 'In a coupled range finder of the character describedcomprising a fixed, semi-transparent reflector; a rotatable reflectorlocated in optical relationship to said fixed reflector; a housingsurrounding both reflectors; two substantially square windows in saidhousing, one in front of each reflector; a hollow base supporting saidhousing; a plurality of spring loaded levers located in said hollowbase; a sliding cam interposed between saidlevers, and a linked levercoupling said spring loaded levers, cam and rotatable reflector 'to thecamera carriage.

2. In a'coupled range finder of the character described comprising afixed, semi-transparent reflector; a rotatable reflector located inoptical relationship to the fixed reflector; a housing surrounding bothreflectors; two substantially square windows in said housing, one infront of each reflector; a viewing aperture in the rear of the flxedreflector; a hollow base supporting the housing; a plurality of springloaded levers located in said hollow base; a sliding cam interposedbetween the levers, and a linked lever outside of the base coupiing'thespring loaded levers, cam and rotatable reflector to the cameracarriage.

3. In a coupled range finder of the character described comprising afixed, semi-transparent reflector mounted inside one end of a squaretubing; a rotatable reflector pivoted inside the other end of the squaretubing and in optical relationship with the fixed reflector; twosubstantially square windows located in one side of the square tubing,and one being in front of, each of said reflectors; a viewing aperturelocated on the opposite side of the square tubing, in the rear of thefixed reflector; a hollow base fastened on one sideof the square tubing;a plurality of spring loaded levers located in the hollow base; asliding cam interposed between the levers, and a lever comprising twojoined links coupling said rotatable reflector through the spring loadedlevers and sliding cam to the lens carriage of a camera.

4. In a coupled range finder of the character described a range findercomprising a fixed and a movable mirror, mounted one in each end of asquare tube; a hollow base fastened to one side of the square tubing; a,shaft pivoted in the square tubing carrying said rotatable mirror, one

end of the shaft extending in to the hollow base; a spring loaded leverfastened to said shaft inside the hollow base; a sliding cam engageablewith the end of the lever; a right angle lever pivoted at one end insidethe base, the other end being engaged with the end of the sliding cam; athird lever, pivoted inside the base at the opposite end from the firstlever, and engaged with its end against one leg of said right anglelever; a shaft joining said third lever with a fourth lever on theoutside of the base and a flfth lever turnably linked with the fourthlever whereby said system of levers may be coupled to the lens carriageof a camera.

5. In a coupled range finder of the character described a range findercomprising a fixed and a movable mirror, mounted in optical relation onein each end of a tubular housing, said housing having two substantiallysquare windows and a viewing aperture in line with the mirrors; a hollowbase fastened to one side of the tubular housing at right angles to thewindows; a shaft pivoted in the square tubing carrying the rotatablemirror with one end of the shaft extending into the hollow base; aspring loaded lever fastened to the shaft inside the hollow base; asliding cam the lower end of which has a curved face engaged with oneend of said lever; a right angle leverpivoted at one end inside thebase, the other end being engaged with the upper end of the sliding cam;screw adjustments between said first lever and the cam and between thecam and the base; a third lever, pivoted inside the base at the oppositeend from the first lever, and engaged with its free end against one legof said right angle lever; a shaft joining said third lever with afourth lever on the outside of the base, and a fifth lever turnablylinked with the fourth lever, whereby said system of levers, cam andturnable mirror is coupled to the lens carriage of a camera.

6. In a coupled range finder of the character described a range findercomprising a fixed and a movable mirror, 'mounted in optical relationone in each end of a tubular housing, said housing having twosubstantially square windows and a viewing aperture in line with themirrors; a hollow base fastened to one side of the tubular housing atright angles to the Windows; a shaft pivoted in the square tubingcarrying the rotatable mirror with one end of the shaft extending intothe hollow base; a spring loaded lever fastened to the shaft inside thehollow base; a sliding cam the lower end of which has a curved faceengaged with one end of said lever; a right angle lever pivoted at oneend inside the base, the other end being engaged with the upper end ofthe sliding cam; screw adjustments between said first lever and the camand between the cam and the base; a third lever, pivoted inside the

